Speech notes by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Mr Sibusiso Ndebele during the Children's Day celebrations at KwaHlabisa

Children's rights are one crucial aspect for which we fought. Our Constitution gives children rights, which they should use to prepare themselves for the challenges of the future. The right to education, proper healthcare and protection, are some guarantees children have on their side. Children have a right go to school and government must help to achieve that. It is in this light that we condemn the increasing rate of truancy in our schools.

We are not going to grow a nation that does not respect education and places no value on it. When children need to be at school, they must be at school, not in malls, bottle stores and shebeens. This habit must be nipped in the bud. We have committed to rounding them up. We require the school governing bodies and the community to play a leading role in this regard. We must at the same time condemn the violence which is meted on children and women in our province and the rest of the country. The women of Umzinto, who have been victim to what appears to be a serial killer, deserve justice.

The lives of these women cannot be taken away without the criminal being caught at some point. As government we will ensure that whoever did this, will soon find themselves facing the full might of the law. This must teach others that crime does not pay. Our Constitution ensures that for our children, the doors of learning are opened.

In my own term as Premier I have tried to place emphasis on the rights of children. The Office on the Rights of the Child within the Office of the Premier is responsible for the co-ordination and monitoring of the respect, promotion and protection of children's rights. One of its co-ordinating instruments is a Provincial Programme of Action for Children Committee (PPA), which is a structure representative of all government departments, local government and civil society.

In an age where emphasis is placed on material things and individualism, it is important that we create an environment where the values of sharing, on simplicity and collective spirit become the predominant value system. For me that is part of the Provincial Question! Building a non-racial, non sexist society and playing out unity in diversity.

Our urgent task is to deal with poverty and underdevelopment whose victims remain the children and women. We are doing everything in our power to co-ordinate efforts to deal with the phenomenon of street children, child headed households and the physical abuse suffered by children. Our social safety net keeps growing; the constitutional guarantees are in place.

We are truly building a KwaZulu-Natal which cares for its young and old, children and women and cares for all its citizens. A caring KwaZulu-Natal cannot be built successfully by the government of this province alone. Only a partnership between all sectors of our society across race, gender and class can build a better KwaZulu-Natal.

Masisukume Sakhe!

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
13 October 2007